Perfect
by starstarfairy
Summary: Nagisa and Rei practice before the relay. Episode 8 based, just a spoonful of NagiRei fluff.


I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen anything else about Nagisa and Rei's practice the morning of the relay yet. It's practically begging for something to be written to fill in the details. Come on, guys.

Based on episode 8, obviously. Insert disclaimer here.

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_"If you do it perfectly, I'll give you a kiss!"_

Rei bent himself over on the starting block for what seemed like the fiftieth time that morning, squinting his tired eyes at Nagisa's approaching breaststroke. It was bad enough that his nerves had deprived him of sleep the night before the tournament had begun, but beginning swimming practice this early in the morning, especially in the state he was in, had to be some kind of torture.

Of course, that wasn't to say that he wasn't thrilled to be swimming in a relay with the Iwatobi team—when Makoto's call had woken him up that morning, he had been nothing short of ecstatic. So ecstatic, in fact, that when he'd received a call from Nagisa almost immediately after Makoto's, demanding that they go to the school pool and practice _right now_, he didn't hesitate to agree.

He'd already begun to curse his poor judgment as Nagisa's hand slipped into his, tugging him from the front gate towards the pool. Just having to take the same train together in the morning was almost too much for Rei, but he really wasn't sure if he could handle _swimming_ with his most exuberant teammate this early in the day.

Rei's chest had felt considerably tighter as Nagisa scrambled onto the starting block and, tightening his goggles with a snap and turning to Rei with a look so bright it could've blinded him, chirped, "If you do it perfectly, I'll give you a kiss!"

His blush had crept all the way up to the tops of his ears, and he realized almost too late that he had been standing much too far from the starting block for the better part of Nagisa's run. Yes, it was definitely too early for this.

The first try had been clumsy, if not bordering on disastrous. Rei had forced his mind to focus after that, certain that Nagisa's words had distracted him enough to throw him off balance. It was he who had said they should go ahead with the relay, after all—it would be wise to practice his leg and get it perfect at least _once_ before the real thing.

(And damn, if he didn't want that reward.)

Nagisa's final stroke approached the wall, and Rei took off with such beautiful determination that he could have sworn time stood still. As he broke the surface for the first time, he could barely make out the sound of a voice, and it took several more strokes for it to register that it was Nagisa cheering for him.

His run seemed to last years and seconds all at once, and before he knew it he was being dragged out of the pool and wrapped into a tight hug.

"Rei-chaaaan, that was amazing! You dove so far, I thought you were gonna reach the wall! And your form—so beautiful!" Nagisa's eyes sparkled as he held Rei out, as if admiring him. "If you do that well later today, we'll win for sure!"

Rei ignored the heat creeping onto his cheeks and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Th-thank you, Nagi—"

His words were cancelled out by an embarrassing yelp escaping his throat as Nagisa, standing on his tiptoes, grabbed Rei's face and kissed him with such enthusiasm he almost fell over. Rei forced his eyes shut and wound his arms around Nagisa's waist, briefly returning the kiss until Nagisa pulled away to admire him again. "Rei-chan is so beautiful," he muttered, smiling and gently tracing Rei's bottom lip with his thumb. Rei's mouth fell slightly open in a gasp at the intimacy of the gesture. He considered whether Nagisa would mind kissing him again, and was about to lean in for another when Nagisa's eyes suddenly flicked away to look at something behind Rei and—

"Ah! It's already so late?! Rei-chan, let's go! Hurry, hurry!" Nagisa detached himself from Rei to scramble into his tracksuit, hastily toweling his hair and pulling on his bag before reaching out for Rei, who had barely managed to pull on his pants and half a shoe. Nagisa pouted and rather comically stomped his foot. "Reeee-iiiiii-chaaaaa-n! We're going to be late!" He clicked his tongue impatiently, barely waiting for Rei to pick up the rest of his things before grabbing his hand and rushing them both out of the pool facility.

Rei made several incoherent noises of protest as they sprinted towards the train station, but as Nagisa's fingers intertwined with his on the platform, he decided that he didn't really mind being dragged around so much after all.

He wondered if Nagisa would kiss him again if they won the relay.

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I'm so sorry for this, I kind of just spit it out after the idea popped into my head and didn't really give it a thorough proofreading... please review?


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